Proof that people use GoDaddy expired domain auctions as an appraisal and bait tool

Everybody knows that people are using the GoDaddy expired domain auctions as an appraisal tool and as a bait tool.

They let they GoDaddy registered domain names expire, the domain name is auctioned at GoDaddy auctions, the winning bidder pays and then boom! The owner transfers out the domain name to a different registrar and the buyers are left there trying to find out what happened. Why they wasted their time, where did the domain name go and when are they getting their refund.

In the meantime the owner has gotten a free live auction appraisal and also maybe has the winning bidder (and other bidders) hooked. So they also use it as a promotion tool to bring attention to their domain names.

So what happens next? Maybe the bidders will contact the owner and ask to buy the domain name. Maybe not…

But now I got proof of what they are doing. After about a month I was browsing Namejet pre-release auctions and I noticed a domain name name that I had won at GoDaddy listed. The domain had of course been transferred out to Enom (and parked at Undeveloped.com) after I won the auction and all I was left with was the a small refund fee from my bank and some tax paperwork to do.

The I had won the GoDaddy auction for $485 and the domain was listed at Namejet with a “$500 or less” reserve. So the Godaddy “appraisal” had been put to use.

Too bad the domain only got a $69 bid at Namejet and did not met the reserve and was not sold.

These people that have no respect for other people’s time are the scum of the earth. I wouldn’t even pay $100 to this person now.

Here is some of my GoDaddy expired auction complaint history from 2012 to 2017:

About Konstantinos Zournas

Konstantinos studied Computer Engineering and Computer Science in London and lives in Athens, Greece. He works on domain names, websites and software development. Has been online since 1995 & domaining since 2002.

13 comments

I’ve never done anything like that over the years, but there have been a few times when in all legitimate good faith I simply either regretted letting something go and then recovered it later, or recovered it after mistakenly letting it slip into the auction period after not renewing. This has also included me recovering after letting myself be outbid in the auction when it would be cheaper to recover. In such cases I simply recover as soon as it gets to the point of costing less to do so and have never bid beyond that point to see where the auction would go.

People are playing with the house rules, its a pain to transfer out, and takes time, at the end of the day, you can just email the owner of the domain that sold, and offer them $500, to which they will probably reply back with $3000.

All auctions come with risk, and are not a retail outlet.

Auctions, and retail settings are two different venues, it has been a pet peeve for years, but people keep coming back for more. Only way to show godaddy to change is to not support their venue, but you still continue to do so, then nothing will change.

So seeing that bidding reached $485 on the name at GoDaddy auctions & only $69 at Namejet, does that mean GoDaddy auctions is a better venue from a “sellers” point-of-view? I realize that isn’t the point of your post but it does show bidding data. It makes you wonder if they relisted the name in a godaddy auction if bids would approach the former $485 level or just go unnoticed with zero bids.

Who is Jason Newby? He owns about 25,000 domains, and lets every single one expired and then transfer them to another registrar after auction end, not just with GD auctions but other platforms too. Why is he doing this on such a large scale? He seems to derive pleasure from having other domainers buy his domains and then renew them. I’ve probably bought 100+ domains owned (and renewed) by him over the years. He’s also an active daily bidder in auctions.

I know of someone that can predict type in traffic on any domain name that gets a least 200 hits per month.

She says that it is some incredible software. So when I see Godaddy ENTICE people to buy domains names based upon fake traffic or estimated traffic it really is a shame. TYPE in traffic is only traffic worth anything and it seems Godaddy is pumping up bids with these fake stats. Just my opinion of course. They will at some point possibly sued because of this.. Just Maybe.